Newspaper Page Text
SEE PAGE 12A
SEE PAGE IB
Tigers Win 2,
Host Jefferson
Dragons Friday
Budget Brings
Lots Of Email
To Representative
Vol. 133
No. 50
20 Pages
2 Sections
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
Planners
Re-Elect
Officers
By Mark Beardsley
The Commerce Planning
Commission re-elected its
officers Monday night in
its first meeting of 2009.
Member Johnny
Eubanks made the motion
to keep the 2008 slate
— Greg Perry chairman;
Joe Leffew, vice chair
man; and David Zellner,
secretary. With a second
from Darren Owensby,
and members Leffew and
Cindy Adams not present,
the slate was accepted on
a 3-0 vote.
The only other business
on the agenda was tabled
for 30 days.
Ken Davis of Davis
Residential Design rep
resented Chester and
Vivian Scott in their
request for a variance in
the side setback at their
114 Martin Luther King Jr.
Drive home so they could
enlarge the dining room in
their house.
The Scotts, he said, need
ed to reduce the setback
by about half to accom-
Please Turn to Page 5A
MLUilU
THURSDAY, JAN. 29
Partly cloudy: low, 31; high,
55; 10% chance rain
FRIDAY, JAN. 30
Sunny: low, 24; high, 49;
0% chance rain
SATURDAY, JAN. 31
I
Sunny: low, 31; high, 52;
0% chance rain
SUNDAY, FEB. 1
Mostly sunny: low, 36; high,
57; 10% chance rain
Rainfall this month
3.61 inches
Rainfall This Year
3.61 Inches
INDEX
Births
8A
Church News ....
4B
Classified Ads ...
...5-7B
Calendar
3 A
Crime News
6A
News Roundup ..
2 A
Obituaries
...8-9A
Opinions
4A
School News ....
7A
Sports
...1-2B
Social News
3B
Cost Of Library Expansion
Project Grows By 30-38 Percent
While City
Waits Its Turn
For State Grant,
Construction
Costs Go
Up — Along
With Cost Of
Required Local
Match
By Mark Beardsley
The wait to get state funding for the
proposed addition to the Commerce
Public Library is expected to inflate
its cost by anywhere from 30 to 38
percent.
That means local fund-raising efforts
to secure the match for the state grant,
rather than lacking just $80,000, are
$256,000 to $306,000 short of the
goal.
Alan Harkness, director of the
Piedmont Regional Library, deliv
ered the bad news at Monday night’s
Commerce Library Board meeting.
Harkness’ presented estimates by
state officials based on a $225-$250
per square foot cost for constructing
the addition and a
cost of $100 per
square foot for
renovating existing
parts of the struc
ture. That puts the
total estimated tab
for the project at
from $2.73 million
to $2.91 million.
The costs upon
which all previous
calculations were
done were $160 per square foot for
the 5,000-square-foot addition and
$85/square foot for renovating 9,000
square feet of the existing facility. The
original project estimate was $2.1 mil-
Alan Harkness
lion.
“Please don’t shoot the messenger,’’
Harkness told the board, adding,
“These figures make me nauseous.’’
Commerce was 13th in line to get
state funding in the upcoming state
fiscal year. Gov. Sonny Perdue’s
budget calls for the funding of 11
library projects during the upcoming
state fiscal year, which would move
Commerce to the number two ranking
for the next fiscal year — assuming the
General Assembly agrees to Perdue’s
request. Even with a budget shortfall,
that is considered a strong possibil
ity because library funds come from
Please Turn to Page 3A
Banks See Flurry
Of Mortgage
Re-Finance Interest
Low Rates Make Re-Financing Attractive,
But Now Loans Are Harder To Get
Keith Ariail, surrounded by his family, was recipient of the Jackson
County Area Chamber of Commerce’s William H. Booth Award for Lifetime
Achievement. Left to right are Taylor and Brittney Truelove, Ariail, Ty Truelove,
Grade Beth Truelove, Diane Ariail and Carla Truelove. Ariail owns McDonald
Hardware, Commerce.
Chamber Honors Ariail With
lifetime Achievement Award
The Jackson County Area
Chamber of Commerce pre
sented awards and celebrat
ed its successes of 2008 at its
annual Awards Banquet last
Lriday night at the Jefferson
Civic Center.
Keith Ariail of McDonald
Hardware, Commerce, was
presented the William H.
Booth Award for Lifetime
Achievement.
One of the chamber’s
most active volunteers,
Ariail serves on the cham
ber board, is active in the
Commerce Kiwanis Club,
Lirst Baptist Church of
Jefferson, American Cancer
Society, Tumbling Waters
Society, the Art in the Park
Lestival and is a member of
the Commerce Downtown
Development Authority.
Scott Martin, Commerce,
won the Citizen of the Year
Award.
Martin is a senior com
mercial/industrial marketing
representative for Jackson
EMC. He serves on the
chamber board and chairs
the Industrial Development
Authority.
Martin is a member
Martin Lavender
and past president of the
Commerce Kiwanis Club, a
member of the Commerce
Booster Club and the Lirst
United Methodist Church
of Commerce and is a past
chairman of the chamber.
Dee Lavender won
the Volunteer of the Year
Award.
“Lor years now, this per
son has stepped up to the
plate to help us,’’ com
mented chamber president
Shane Short in making the
presentation. “This person
has given generously of her
time and leadership, often
volunteering to work cham
ber events after hours and
on weekends. This person
has been behind the scenes
working and planning and
supporting such events as
the Annual Awards Banquet,
Chili Cook-Off, Partners in
Education, Taste of Jackson
and Women in Business.
In fact, she was one of the
initial women who helped
start the Women in Business
Program.’’
Jackson EMC was award
ed the Large Business of the
Year Award.
'This company is a true
powerhouse of a business,’’
said Short. “One could
easily argue the point that
they, more than any other
company, have provided the
communities of Northeast
Georgia with some of the
finest leadership anywhere.
Their support of nonprofit
organizations, businesses
and many other worthy orga
nizations is above reproach.
Their customer service is
second to none as proven
by winning this past year
the JD Power Award for Best
Customer Service.’’
The Small Business of the
Year Award went to Beef
O’Brady’s, Jefferson, for its
support of the chamber’s golf
tournament, Small Business
Lunch and Learns, Taste of
Jackson and its work on vari
ous committees.
By Mark Beardsley
The housing market may
be mired in a slump, but
interest rates south of five
percent are causing a spike
in mortgage refinancing
applications, local bankers
say.
Late last year, interest
rates on 15 and 30-year
loans fell under the five-
percent mark. After
months of almost no mort
gage activity, lenders’ tele
phones started ringing.
“This week I have proba
bly given refinance packag
es to six customers,’’ noted
Huber Engineered
Woods laid off 28 employ
ees at its Commerce ori
ented strand board (OSB)
plant last week.
That amounted to about
a quarter of the plant’s
labor force.
“Due to the ongoing
worldwide financial crisis
and the significant down
turn in the U.S. hous
ing market which have
adversely affected our
business, we have unfor
tunately had to lay off 28
of our employees at the
Huber Engineered Woods
LLC (HEW) plant in
Commerce,’’ said Robert
Currie, vice president and
chief communications and
public affairs officer. “A
decision like this is never
easy — especially in view
of the overall job mar
ket. Huber Engineered
Woods has made every
effort possible to avoid
this action. However, the
Debbie Williams, senior
vice president of United
Community Banks. “Lor
the previous three months
I’d given out zero.’’
Lor homeowners who
qualify, it’s a chance to
save some money in a time
when everyone’s trying to
reduce their expenses.
“Actually, I had some
interest from people want
ing to build,’’ said Susan
Bruce, vice president and
mortgage originator for
Lirst Georgia Banking
Company. “It started slow-
Cont. on Page 3A
drastic decline in housing
starts and overall econom
ic downturn has created
unprecedented challenges
to Huber and the overall
housing industry.’’
The plant has continued
to manufacture its floor
ing, decking and other
products used primarily
in homebuilding, but sales
could not keep apace with
production as the home-
building industry across
America has come to a
virtual halt.
Currie stressed the diffi
culty in making the cuts.
“This action is in no way
a reflection on the work
that was performed by
the terrific people we will
be losing,’’ Currie said by
email. “Our company con
siders layoffs a last resort,
and we are saddened by
the fact that this was action
was necessary.’’
The plant will continue to
operate with a staff of 86.
Tough Times: Huber
Lays Off 28 Workers